Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Intervjuet om statsborgerskap varer bare femten minutter, men hun øver mye den siste uken før. - The interview about citizenship lasts only fifteen minutes, but she practices a lot in the last week before.

So Intervjuet om statsborgerskap literally means The interview about citizenship.
Norwegian often uses the definite form when English uses the with no extra word, and you normally don’t add a separate article in front (you don’t say det intervjuet unless you want to emphasize that specific interview).

What exactly does om mean in Intervjuet om statsborgerskap? Can it mean other things too?

Here om means about, indicating the topic:

Intervjuet om statsborgerskap = the interview about citizenship

Other common meanings of om:

if/whether:
- Jeg vet ikke om hun kommer. = I don’t know if she is coming.
around / approximately (in some fixed expressions):
- omtrent = approximately, roughly
In time expressions like om en uke = in a week (from now).

In this sentence, think of om simply as about (topic).

What does statsborgerskap literally mean, and what gender is it?

Statsborgerskap means citizenship.

It’s a compound word:

stat = state
borger = citizen
-skap = a suffix similar to -ship in English (friendship, citizenship)

Grammatically, statsborgerskap is a neuter noun (et-word):

et statsborgerskap = a citizenship
statsborgerskapet = the citizenship
flere statsborgerskap = several citizenships
statsborgerskapene = the citizenships

In the sentence we have om statsborgerskap – indefinite, talking about citizenship in general as a topic.

What is the difference between varer and er? Why do we say Intervjuet varer bare femten minutter and not Intervjuet er femten minutter?

Norwegian distinguishes between:

å være (present: er) = to be
å vare (present: varer) = to last

You use å vare when talking about duration:

Intervjuet varer bare femten minutter.
= The interview only lasts fifteen minutes.
Filmen varer to timer.
= The movie lasts two hours.

If you say Intervjuet er femten minutter, people will understand, but it sounds less natural; å vare is the standard verb for how long something goes on.

Also, note that we are using present tense (varer) to talk about a scheduled future event. That’s normal in Norwegian:

Møtet varer en time. = The meeting lasts an hour.
(Can be about something in the future, like in English: The meeting is at 3.)

Why is bare placed where it is: varer bare femten minutter? Could we move bare somewhere else?

Bare here means only. Its most natural position is right before the thing it limits:

varer bare femten minutter
= lasts only fifteen minutes

You could also say:

bare varer femten minutter – this is unusual and sounds wrong in standard word order.
varer femten minutter bare – possible in speech for emphasis, but not neutral.

So the standard neutral order is:

Verb + bare + phrase it limits
- varer bare femten minutter
- koster bare hundre kroner
- tar bare et par minutter

You can use kun instead of bare for a slightly more formal tone:

varer kun femten minutter

Why is it femten minutter and not something like femten minutterne or femten minuttene?

With numbers, Norwegian usually uses the indefinite plural form of the noun.

ett minutt = one minute
to minutter = two minutes
femten minutter = fifteen minutes

You normally do not make the noun definite (no -ene or -ne) when you have a specific number in front.

Definite plural would be:

minuttene = the minutes

You’d use that without a number, or with words like alle, disse:

Alle minuttene gikk fort. = All the minutes went quickly.
Disse minuttene er viktige. = These minutes are important.

So femten minutter is the standard form after a number.

In hun øver mye, what is øver exactly? Do you need a preposition like øver på or øver til?

Øver is the present tense of å øve, which means to practise (BrE) / to practice (AmE).

hun øver mye = she practices a lot

You have several options with this verb:

Without a preposition, when the context is clear:
- Hun øver mye. = She practices a lot.
  (It’s understood she is practising for the interview.)
With a direct object:
- Hun øver uttalen. = She practises the pronunciation.
With a preposition:
- øve på noe = practise something
  - Hun øver på spørsmålene. = She practises the questions.
- øve til noe = practise for an event
  - Hun øver til intervjuet. = She practises for the interview.

In this sentence, hun øver mye is fine as a general statement; the rest of the sentence tells you what she’s practising for.

Why is it mye and not mange in hun øver mye?

Norwegian distinguishes between:

mye = much, a lot (for uncountable things or in a general sense)
mange = many (for countable things)

Here mye describes the amount of practising, not the number of individual practice sessions. It’s like saying:

She practises a lot. (not many)

Examples:

Hun har mye tid. = She has a lot of time.
Hun har mange venner. = She has many friends.
Hun øver mye. = She practises a lot.

How does den siste uken work grammatically? Why do we need both den and the -en ending?

Den siste uken means the last week.

Structure in Norwegian when you have den + adjective + noun:

den = the (definite article)
siste = last (adjective)
uken = week (noun in definite form: uka/uken)

So you double mark the definiteness:

den store bilen = the big car
den nye boken = the new book
den siste uken = the last week

This is normal in Norwegian: if you have den / det / de + adjective, the noun also takes the definite ending.

Colloquially you’ll also see den siste uka instead of uken; it’s a stylistic choice.

What exactly does før refer to in den siste uken før? Before what? And why isn’t there a word like it after før?

Før means before (in time).

In the sentence:

den siste uken før
= the last week before (it)

The thing it is before is the interview, which is already mentioned:

Intervjuet om statsborgerskap ...
... den siste uken før (the last week before [the interview])

Norwegian often omits a pronoun like det when it is obvious from context. You could write more explicitly:

den siste uken før intervjuet = the last week before the interview
den siste uken før det = the last week before it

All three are understandable, but the original is quite natural in speech or informal writing when the reference is clear.

Could we say den siste uken før intervjuet instead of just den siste uken før? Is there a difference in meaning or style?

Yes, you can definitely say:

den siste uken før intervjuet

Compared to den siste uken før, the differences are:

Clarity:
- den siste uken før intervjuet explicitly repeats the interview, making it crystal clear.
- den siste uken før relies on context; the listener must remember what came before.
Style:
- Shorter version (den siste uken før) is a bit more colloquial/compact and typical when the reference is very obvious.
- Longer version (den siste uken før intervjuet) is slightly more explicit and can feel a bit more careful or written.

Meaning-wise, they refer to the same period of time.

Why is there a comma before men in ..., men hun øver mye den siste uken før?

Men is a coordinating conjunction meaning but.

In Norwegian, it is standard to put a comma before coordinating conjunctions that connect two full clauses (each with its own subject and verb):

Intervjuet ... varer bare femten minutter, men hun øver mye ...

Two clauses:

Intervjuet om statsborgerskap varer bare femten minutter
- Subject: Intervjuet om statsborgerskap
- Verb: varer
hun øver mye den siste uken før
- Subject: hun
- Verb: øver

Because each side of men is a complete clause, the comma is required by standard Norwegian punctuation rules.